My Hero
by mabelreid
Summary: One Shot. "52 Pickup from the POV of Austin the bartender, beginning with her meeting Reid.


_**Disclaimer: see my profile**_

_**A/n hey all, here's a one shot filling in the gaps of "52 pickup," after Reid meets Austin. **_

When he walked up to the bar with the big guy, she was polite and attentive like the job demanded. The big guy annoyed her a bit, just like all the guys that addressed her as 'sweetheart, darlin,' or honey,' as if that was what women wanted to be called, like they didn't have names, usually she would smile and attempt to flirt back. It kept her tip jar full and her financial status bearable.

Looking up at them, she'd noticed the one that had called her sweetheart was very good looking and built like a football player. In contrast, his friend was extremely thin and looked like a strong wind would blow him into next month. He had nerdy clothes and wavy hair that got in his eyes. She figured he was a college student, and for a split second, she wondered why the nerd and jock were hanging out together.

Then the skinny guy pulled out a badge from the FBI and showed her a picture of the man they were looking for. She barely noticed when the big man walked away, because the skinny guy was talking about this man they were looking for and he was doing a neat little magic trick with a pen and the paper with the guy's face on it. She loved magic and for the first time, she really made eye contact with the skinny guy. He had the most intense dark eyes she'd seen in a long time and she found herself flirting for real instead of just faking it for a good tip. She surprised herself even more by asking him if she could call him, even if she didn't see the man they were looking for. He looked stunned at this question and she imagined that most women probably didn't take him seriously. There was just something in his eyes. He didn't look at her like she was a prize to be conquered and won, for one thing. He seemed sweet and sincere.

He'd turned away after she asked him if she could call him. She reminded him that she needed his number and he said it was behind her barrette. It occurred to her in that minute that he might be nuts, then she reached up and pulled his business card out of her hair. How the hell had he pulled that off? He hadn't got close enough to put it there, unless he'd somehow hypnotized her with his eyes. It was a puzzle she wanted to explore further.

The rest of the evening passed quickly. She tried to look at every guy and do her job, so it all flew by in a blur and before she knew it, it was time for last call. She began to straighten up the bar, a little disappointed that she hadn't seen the man Dr. Spencer Reid was looking for. She was thinking about what a cute name that was when she noticed the blond girl and a guy at the bar. She looked at him and saw the scar over his eye that Dr. Reid had said would be there. She listened to them talk and noticed how smooth and charming he was trying to be, but there was something in his eyes that scared the hell out of her.

She thought fast… How could she get this girl away from him without tipping her hand and scaring him off? The man asked the woman to leave with him and Austin did something she'd never do deliberately to a customer. She dumped a drink across the bar at the woman and it splattered on the blond woman's dress.

The woman was pissed. The look Austin got from the man turned her blood to ice. She had to get the woman away from him and call Dr. Reid. She got the woman to follow her behind the bar by claiming that club soda would get the stain out of her outfit. The man was watching her closely and suddenly he smiled a little and she knew he knew what she was doing.

She shut the woman up in the supply room and left to make the call. The man was gone and while it was a relief, she knew she had to get help. There was just something in that man's eyes. She went out the back dialing Dr. Reid's number.

Come on, she thought, answer the phone. A sly sound made her turn around. She didn't see the fist that slammed into her face and lifted her off her feet. The pain was enormous; it shut out everything in the universe, even the thud of her body hitting the pavement. Then everything was black.

She woke up to the smell of the sick room. She knew it from the hospital where her beloved grandfather had died. She was tied up with duck tape. The man pulled her to her knees and ordered her to stay still and be quiet. She couldn't stop crying. Dr. Reid wouldn't know where to find her. She was going to die here and it'd be her body he found. An irrational surge of anger flared in her chest. Not at the man that took her but at Dr. Reid. How dare he ask her to look for this man? It was his fault she was there. Then the anger died and she cried. He couldn't have known this would happen. It wasn't his fault. She should have stayed inside the bar where the bouncers were working. It was her fault.

The man came back with cleaning supplies and a bucket. He screamed at her to clean up the mess she made. She took the scrub brush from the bucket and scrubbed the floor slowly. He became angry and began to shout at her. He wanted her to work faster, so she scrubbed as fast as she could with her taped hands. It was hell; she was going to die in a clean freaks hell. In a house that looked like a reject from the seventies. It was hell. She tried to beg and plead with him. She promised to do whatever he wanted. He told her the help doesn't talk and he put tape over her mouth. She tried to scream, but her voice was reduced to muffled sobs. This was it, she was going to die.

Then, as if in a dream, someone shouted FBI and the big man from the club charged into the room, Dr. Reid was right behind him with his gun drawn. It was like a fairy tale her grandmother sometimes read to her when she babysat for Austin's mother. The princess always got rescued by the white knight or handsome prince. It was crazy, but he was her hero, he had saved her. And she couldn't even say thank you, all she could do was say "I called you, and get it off," She didn't want that tape on her wrists one second longer. He took it off and helped her to her feet and outside.

The air outside was the sweetest thing she'd breathed in her life. Dr. Reid led her away from the house to a waiting ambulance. No… She didn't want to go anywhere. She made him stop in the middle of the grassy yard and threw her arms around him. She felt him try to jerk away from her, but she clutched him tighter around the waist. He finally relaxed and his arms came around her. Then she cried while his hands lightly, but hesitantly stroked her back. He said stuff that she supposed was supposed to be comforting words. The way he stuttered almost made her laugh through her tears.

"C-come w-with me to the m-medics, they n-need to check you over." He stuttered in her ear. His breath was warm and he smelled like something she couldn't identify, but it was like a cozy warm house after she and her brothers had played in the snow on a winter's day.

The shakes were stopping and she sniffed back the last of her tears. "I'm sorry…"

"It's okay. You were kidnapped by a serial killer, so if you want to cry it's okay with me." He said shyly.

She pulled away to look up at him. He was pink cheeked and so cute that the urge to kiss him was overwhelming, but she stepped away instead.

"Come on…" He pulled her toward the waiting bus.

"Will you come with me to the hospital?'

"I can't. I have to stay here and help my team."

"Please Spencer…"

"I can't," He looked utterly miserable.

"Okay… I understand. Can I call you some time? You know, to let you know how I'm doing."

"You already did," He smiled

She laughed, "Yeah… I did. This time I hope it won't be to report on a serial killer."

"Ah yeah… Did you know that the chances of getting kidnapped twice by a serial killer are one hundred times as unlikely as getting attacked by a terrorist?"

She laughed again, "Do you always do that?"

"Um yeah… It drives my friends nuts."

"I think it's cute." She kissed him on the cheek and headed off to the waiting paramedics.

She had to endure questions, and poking and prodding by nurses and doctors. They wanted to do a rape kit but she refused, even though she'd been passed out for who knows how long. The only thing that got her through it, was the plan she'd formed in her mind for the minute she stepped out of the hospital.

-------

She was leaving the bar after giving notice that she was quitting. She called up Spencer and told him all about her experience in the hospital and how 'generous' her HMO was being now that she was a survivor of a serial killer. He was so cute, and so concerned, that she felt like the nightmares and the feeling of terror that had followed her around since he'd let go of her that night would be gone soon as long as she had him in her life.

She wasn't serious about the gig in magic, but she could tell he liked that she'd sent back his card with a lipstick kiss. Maybe she could go to DC. Would he be the same if she looked him up or was it all a case of her liking him because he saved her life and did a cute magic trick that charmed her. She decided that it didn't matter. She was going to go to Virginia and if it worked out then it worked out, if it didn't then well, it didn't. Life was a crap shoot, and Robert Parker had taught her one thing. She wanted to live that crap shoot to the fullest.

**_THE END _**


End file.
